Ryanair is to open nine new routes from Dublin and increasing the frequency of eight existing services, creating 300 jobs with the airline and bringing an additional 700,000 passengers through the airport every year.
The new routes will run to Almeria, Bari, Basel, Bucharest, Chania, Comiso, Lisbon, Marrakesh and Prague from April next year, bringing to 85 the number of services that Ryanair operates from the airport. the airline is also increasing the frequency of the Birmingham, Bristol, Edinburgh, Glasgow, London Stansted, Madrid, Manchester and Nice routes, bringing the number of flights from 300 to 400.
The company said it plans to recruit new pilots, cabin crew, customer service staff and software developers next year, creating a total of 300 jobs in Ireland. The move is part of Ryanair’s recent pledge to improve its customer service and website, with the extra routes a direct response to the Government’s decision to scrap the €3 travel tax.
Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary pointed out around half of the 300 new jobs that the airline is creating in Dublin were connected with the expansion announced today and would not have gone elsewhere if the travel tax had not bee cut. “Scrapping the travel tax is key to this growth,” he stressed.
Welcoming the news, Taoiseach Enda Kenny, said the extra one million passengers represented an opportunity for the overall tourist industry.
“I would like to say this to the hospitality sector, you in turn have a real opportunity, with up to one million extra people coming into our country in 2014, you need to engage with those people and the repeat business will follow,” Mr Kenny said.
He also called on other airlines to follow Ryanair and look at expanding their services out of Irish airports.
DAA chief executive, Kevin Toland, said that Dublin Airport is now going through its third successive year of growth, with both long- and short-haul business on the increase.
The number of travellers using the airport to connect to other destinations is up 43 per cent year-on-year, he pointed out.
“What we are seeing is an improvement in European business, which is up 5 per cent to date and the UK is coming back into growth,” he said, adding that Dublin is Europe’s third fastest growing airport.
